Acts 14 - struck down, but not destroyed

In this chapter, we see how crazy people can be when they have seen miracles.

I wonder if this is perhaps also why Jesus was hushed over the signs and wonders He performed, often telling the person not to spread it. He did not want people to be mistaken about His true ministry - which is not simply to heal and to perform signs and wonders, but to call sinners to repentance and to believe in Him.

The people at Lystra decided that Paul and Barnabas were gods coming down in the likeness of men and were so determined to worship them!

However, there is something else that really left a deep visual impression on me.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

Paul was stoned, dragged out of the city, supposed to be dead; yet he rose up and went into the city when the disciples gathered around him. And the next day, he even left for Derbe with Barnabas (Acts 14:19-20)!

And we know that he and others continued on their missionary journey, preaching the word whenever they go.

打不死的小强！

These people are just going, going, going!

Hear the testimony of Paul himself:
Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned.
Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)

I wonder how many percent of Paul am I today? After I have been stoned and assumed dead (must have been pretty bad!), do I climb back on my feet again and continue to preach the Word? Paul was also dragged out of the city, but when he rose up on his feet, he entered into the city again.

We see the stubbornness of Paul here. The stubbornness to go about the ministry of the Word, the work of God. And nothing can stop this man.

We are often stubborn over many things. Have we been stubborn over the things of God? Has anything easily stopped me from going about my King's business?